tragedy

chapter three

word count: 1042

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Turner?" The guy asked, double-checking his paper to get the name right. "Yes, I am. And you are?" Mr. Turner responded with a curiousness in his voice. "Um, I'm Elijah Goldsworthy. You can call me Eli though. Today's my first day." Elijah, or Eli as Iris had just learned, said with a small smile. "Ah, okay. Very good. Well, you can sit wherever there's a free seat. Meet me after class and we can chat." Mr. Turner replied, moving his attention back to setting up his presentation for the class. Iris watched as Eli slowly looked around the room and tried not to think about the small second of eye contact again. He moved to the back of the room and sat in an empty seat in the back row, just one row behind and two desks over from Iris's own. She looked down at her notebook, feeling as though there was a burning in the back of her head.

Throughout the class, which Iris had no trouble focusing in before, she now tried her best to tear her thoughts away from the boy behind her. She didn't know what it was but she couldn't stop thinking about Eli and she couldn't stop wondering what his story was. Why did he move here? What are his hobbies? What are his dreams and desires? Does he prefer breakfast or dinner? "Walden, what about you?" Mr. Turner's voice cuts Iris out of her thoughts. Typically, Iris participates quite a bit in class discussions so she never minds when he calls on her without her raising her hand, but today she had no idea what he was asking her. "I'm sorry, can you repeat the question?" Iris asks, her face turning a bit red. Mr. Turner gives her a knowing look. "Focus up. Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous plays worldwide. We want to dig deep into why this play took so many people's hearts. What did Shakespeare put into this piece? What themes did he bring to life that touched so many of us?" Mr. Turner continued, moving on from Iris and serving the question to the entire class. Iris didn't see Eli raise his hand but she perked up when Mr. Turner called his name. She was interested to see what he knew about Shakespeare.

"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes; A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life, Whose misadventured piteous overthrows; Doth with their death bury their parents' strife... O, I am fortune's fool!... Then I defy you, stars." Eli recites, word for word, a quote that's repeated three times throughout Romeo and Juliet. Iris recognized it from a paper that she wrote last year, she had used it as textual evidence but even she hadn't memorized it. Mr. Turner looked just as impressed as Iris was and the room was deathly quiet for a moment. "And what theme does this convey, Mr. Goldsworthy?" He questioned, looking forward to hearing what this kid had to say. "Well, obviously it advances the theme of fate throughout the piece. In the beginning, when the Chorus recites it, they basically are implying that Romeo and Juliet are star-crossed lovers that are destined to take their lives," Eli explains, emphasizing the word 'destined' as he talks at a fast pace. "When Romeo recites it the first time, he's conveying his hatred for the fact that he is controlled by fate, and when he says it the second and last time, he takes his own life after finding Juliet's "dead" body, bringing fate to fruition." He finally ends, leaning back a bit in his seat, looking around the room at everyone's reactions. Most of the other people in the class were too zoned out to realize the amount of literate perfection that just came out of his mouth, but Iris heard every word of it. As she looked back at Eli slightly, her mouth opened a bit and a look of impression in her eyes, Eli caught her reaction and a small smirk fell on his face. Iris turned towards the front of the classroom quickly, not wanting him to see the rednesses that she could feel in her cheeks.

As class drug on, Iris convinced herself that she had to talk to Eli at the end of class. Even if it was just a few words, she had to introduce herself. He was too captivating for her not to. When the bell rang and all of the students began to quickly collect their things and rush out the door, Iris hung back a little, slowly putting her notebook in her book bag.

After half the class had emptied out, Iris stood up and turned towards Eli. "You know your Romeo and Juliet." She remarked with a small smile as he looked up at her, standing up from his seat and throwing his book bag on by one strap. Iris could swear that she could see an actual twinkle in his eyes when he responded to her with a similar smile. "What can I say? I'm a true Shakespearean." Iris chuckled a bit and followed suit as he began to walk towards the front of the classroom. "Well if you ever want to discuss the other 37 plays or 150 poems, I think I may be the only one in this school that could entertain your conversation," Iris responded, wanting to impress him as he had her. She knew that she must have whenever he gave her the same smirk that she saw earlier. "Elij-.. I mean Eli. My name is Eli." He said awkwardly, seeming to be a bit flustered. "Iris." She smiled, blushing a bit at his awkwardness. "I'll see you around." She spoke again, exiting the room and not wanting to make the situation any more awkward or elementary than it already was. Before she made her way through the doorway though, she caught Mr. Turner chuckling softly and shaking his head, knowing that he had witnessed the entire encounter. Great, now Turner thinks I have a crush. I'm never going to hear the end of it... Do I have a crush? Iris's mind was racing as she made her way to lunch.